Counter-protest calls on group to leave legislature

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This article was published 11/02/2022 (1049 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Uniformed police officers formed a line to separate two groups of protesters — one of which was chanting “freedom,” while the other was shouting “go home” at the former — outside the Manitoba legislature Saturday.

On the north side of the line, hundreds of people continued to gather between parked semi-trucks and tractors in the middle of Broadway and Memorial Boulevard. Protesters held signs calling for the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in solidarity with the “freedom convoy.”

On the other side, a similar sized group of counter-protesters called on the group to pack up and leave.

The Standing 4 Freedom group has had a presence in downtown Winnipeg, in turn frustrating residents with incessant honking and slowing traffic in the area, for more than a week.

“I feel like they’re taking our city hostage, and I’m tired of it,” said Michelle York, a Winnipegger who stood with counter-protesters that mobilized under Defend Wpg, a collective that formed in response to concerns about the ongoing event.

One of the signs she brought with her stated, “If you’re selfish and you know it honk your horn.”

York said members of the convoy represent a small minority of the population, but their big trucks and farm equipment makes the protest look bigger than it is.

Upwards of 400 people took part in the ongoing protest that has been raising concerns about noise levels among downtown residents and business owners since Feb. 4. According to Defend Wpg, its event drew roughly 450 people at the peak around noon.

The environment was tense, with people on both sides screaming obscenities towards one another at points, but police said no charges were laid during the events.

In a release, the Winnipeg Police Service said two individuals were detained under the Intoxicated Persons Detention Act “for their safety,” in relation to traffic concerns, and were taken to a residence where they were turned over to friends.

“It is our priority to ensure public safety. We also strive to balance the right of everyone to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, as well as the rights of the general public, local residents and businesses to a safe environment,” police wrote.

Videos of police officers apprehending an Indigenous protester who was holding a sign while standing in front of a vehicle equipped with a Canadian flag in downtown Winnipeg have been making the rounds on social media. The clips appear to be from the Saturday event, but WPS could not immediately confirm the incident was one of the two above detainments.

We’ve received additional video of the arrest of an Indigenous person following the counter-demonstration at the Legislature. Shame on the @wpgpolice for this blatant act of colonial violence and aggression, while ignoring the ongoing fascist occupation.#AbolishTheWPS pic.twitter.com/A30REhiaje

— Winnipeg Police Cause Harm (@WpgPoliceHarm) February 12, 2022

“Prove that they’re intoxicated. Prove it,” says one voice that was recorded in a video. Other voices shouted that everyone has the right to protest and called the actions captured in the clip racist.

Convoy organizers recently announced they would limit intermittent honking to between the hours of 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., with extended horns allowed for two minutes at the top of every hour, “to respect the residents of the area.”

Participants have voiced their opposition to a range of issues, from mask requirements to restrictions linked to COVID-19 immunization status.

Caleb Brown, an organizer of Freedom Convoy 2022 in Winnipeg, said in a statement that the “counter demonstration shows that over the past two years our communities have been divided by COVID-19 mandates and it is time that we come together and heal.

“Manitoba has taken steps to help bring us together as a community once again and we call on Justin Trudeau and the federal government to enter into respectful dialogue and remove the federal mandates so that we can all go home.”

Premier Heather Stefanson announced Friday that all public health restrictions under Manitoba jurisdiction will be lifted as of March 15.

As a result, the events held downtown Saturday were equal parts celebration and protest. Anti-restriction protesters sat around campfires, played hockey in the street, and listened to a DJ who set up a tent on Memorial to blast upbeat music.

Tara and Daniel Kauenhofen made a two-hour trek to Winnipeg from their home near Wawanesa Saturday to participate.

“The lockdowns and the mandates have gone on long enough, and it’s time to be humans again and interact with people and just live our lives,” Daniel said.

The duo expressed excitement about restrictions being repealed, but both of them indicated they want reassurance that there are no future lockdowns or mandates.

Tara, a mother of three, started crying Saturday as she described how the pandemic has affected her children’s wellbeing.

“(Our six-year-old) has felt stuck for two years… He didn’t know what his teacher’s face looked like until his online parent-teacher interview,” she said, adding that bothers her, as does the fact he comes home from school with hands that are raw from constant sanitizer use.

Tara added: “We have followed the rules because we believe in following (them). We’re not law breakers, by any means. I wouldn’t even say we’re anti-vaxxers. We have an eight-month-old that just finished getting all of his regular vaccines. I just think that it’s a dangerous precedent to set to not give people the choice to choose this (COVID-19) vaccine.”

In Daniel’s view, lockdowns are “a bandaid on a gushing wound” that is Manitoba’s strained and broken health-care system.

Some of the people at the afternoon protest downtown took part in an earlier protest at CF Polo Park, during which anti-maskers showed up to walk around the mall without face coverings and flout public health protocols.

Manitoba RCMP spokesman Robert Cyrenne said approximately 25 vehicles, most of which were personal cars and pick-up trucks, departed Selkirk around noon and began a slow roll towards Winnipeg

Cyrenne said there were multiple protest convoys in other areas of the province on Saturday, including a slow-roll on the Perimeter Highway, one on Highway 3 near the Boundary Trails Health Centre, and another convoy starting at Deacon’s Corner and heading towards Winnipeg on the Trans-Canada Highway.

“There were no issues noted with any of the convoys,” he said.

Cyrenne added a blockade by vehicles at the Emerson border crossing was “largely unchanged” on Saturday with about 50 vehicles on Highway 75 and Provincial Road 200, blocking all four lanes of traffic.

Simon Resch, co-owner of the Emerson Duty Free, said he opened the business for the first time in three days on Saturday when it appeared trucks with essential items were being let through the border by protesters who blocked lanes north and south bound lanes of traffic starting Thursday morning. The Canada Border Service Agency was reporting they were experiencing no delays in traffic.

Resch said by about 1 p.m. they hadn’t had a sale, but one person had come in.

“It was an American who had been turned around at the Canadian border and came in here to use the washroom,” he said.

But while the border was open, Resch said there were more vehicles blocking lanes of traffic on the highway.

“It has definitely grown in numbers,” he said. “There are pickup trucks with Canadian flags and there are cars – there are more personal vehicles than before.

“They are doing a bit of a turnaround at the Manitoba Travel building.”

Meantime, in downtown Winnipeg Saturday, counter-protester Harold Thwaites said he questions the true motivations behind some of the protesters. Thwaites, who lives in Winnipeg, pointed to the large American flag displayed by the convoy. “They want to have a Trump-like person in charge,” he said.

Thwaites said he hopes Manitoba officials take note of the counter-protest turnout so that elected officials grow a backbone and do not further appease the minority of the population that makes up the convoys.

— with files from Kevin Rollason

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie